This thread is not about bashing each other. I have worked with some great LPN's and great RN's in the same context of working with bad LPN's and RN's. We all do a great job no matter where we work. We all have a role to do and hopefully do it well and to the best of our capabilities and at times our roles do cross over but hey............ at the end of the day we are there for the patient not to score marks against each other

They had a bit more experience in clinical but a lot of the stuff we did was new to them too, so I dont think its cool to bash RN new grads. Even the rpns who had years of experience didnt think it was a cake walk

I have vowed to myself that when I graduate with my BScN and am no longer practicing as an RPN, I will never forget just how hard I worked every single day as an RPN. I will remember the skills and critical thinking I used on a daily basis and will continue to stand up to the ignorance displayed by so many others in this field. I have witnessed so much blatant disrespect from healthcare providers towards RPNs (mostly from RNs, I have never been made to feel inferior by a physician) and it is shameful.

We are all nurses, when did it become about competing with each other? I refuse to compete with anybody. You are not a better nurse than I am because you have more education. In the same way that an NP is not better than an RN. We may have different roles and education levels but we are ALL important.

I do not go around bashing PSW/CNAs because of the difference in their education vs. mine. When a PSW complains they deserve a raise I do not assume they are saying that because they feel they are doing my job. I recognize the value in the work they do and am here to support them as much as I can. Study after study shows that cohesion amongst the interprofessional team improves patient outcomes, and isn't that the ultimate goal? I didn't spend years in school to battle with my coworkers about who is more important. If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed in retail and saved myself years of tuition and all-nighters.

We should be standing together, united, for the betterment of our patients but also in the name of our amazing profession. Nurses are consistently ranked one of the most trusted professions but how are we to be trusted when we are abusing our own?

If you go and complete your education you will understand. 2 extra years in university teach you to think differently.

Just curious...I have six years of university education (non-nursing) and I am an LPN. So where do I fit in in terms of "2 extra years in university teach you to think differently"? As I have six years, does that mean I am an LPN who thinks like an RN? Or do I just think differently?

On a serious note... as I see it my province is broke. So are most of the other provinces. We are so deep in debt, it can never realistically be paid off. Additionally, we have an aging population with fewer people to pay the bill for the services required by the older generations. These older generations are living longer and using more services during their retirement years (they are pay less taxes into the system during those retirement years). The bills keep piling up with and those of us working and paying taxes are reaching the point where we simply are maxed out in the amount of taxes we pay. Something has to give.

As such, health care services will be reduced and health care workers will be cut and paid less. It is a reality. It sucks for all of us. RNs are currently at the top of the nursing pay scale so they will be hit hardest with the LPNs gradually seeing the effects as well.

It would be nice if the politicians had the ethics to cut their own salaries, benefits, retirements, and perks first. However, we all know that ain't gonna happen. When we fight each other, the politicians laugh while further lining their own pockets at our expense. If you really want to make changes; if you really want to secure the future for RNs as well as LPNs then as nurses we should be banding together to demand politicians make honest and responsible choices and stretch our health care dollars in the most effective and efficient manor.

The assignments are becoming bigger and harder. The families more demanding, the patients becoming less willing to do anything for themselves. I work with generally healthy people who have elective surgeries.

LOL Yes I mistook a orientee for a student once. She was an RN that had been out of school for months.I agree that the new grads are frightening. I was able to care for a load of 5 by myself by the end of consolidation. I got a job at the faculty I did my placement at and I had no orientation period.

I've trained many new RNS and LPNS. Even more alarming is not only that they don't have the skills/ knowledge, some of them don't care to learn.

We were informed in school that we would not graduate if we were unable to demonstrate certain skills while handling at least 4 patients. I'm teaching people how to call the physician and give IMs right now, people who have recently graduated. Or explaining why you need to take a full set of vitals.

So when it comes down to it, sometimes employers prefer to work short than hire a new grad. Many of them require too much effort and the training is costly.

Did you know that IENs who have longer & more extensive experience are being offered higher salaries compared to the newly grads of Canada? That means length of experience matters my dear. (Emphasis added.) How is that any different with being assessed for entry-to-practice in Ontario?

Once again you're confusing regulation with something unrelated - employment. Regulatory bodies DO indeed consider experience, only insofar as that experience may have filled in educational gaps noted in school transcripts. That's why some IENs are offered OSCE/SEC/CCA assessments instead of being told flat out that they don't qualify. Other than that, experience really isn't important to the Colleges. They care about whether a candidate meets the minimum competencies expected from newly-graduated nursing students embarking on their entry to practice.

Employers, on the other hand, are looking for experience - after ensuring the candidate is registered and has met those minimum competencies for entry to practice, of course. Experience may or may NOT be considered when placing an applicant for employment on the pay scale, depending on what their collective agreements permit and also whether they're satisfied with the documentary evidence the applicant provided. Reciprocal agreements are in place between the provinces and territories that all experience will be credited for persons moving between provinces. Collective agreement language is typically weighted on the Employer's side. For example, "When an Employee has experience satisfactory to the Employer, the Employee's starting salary shall be adjusted as follows: Experience prior to a five year lapse will not be recognized. All experience satisfactory to the Employer shall be recognized on a one-for-one basis, up to the top increment in the salary scale. If the Registered Nurse has completed a nursing refresher course within the past 12 months, the Employer will recognize experience that is more than five years old." So it's not a slam dunk for those who have no work experience in Canada.

As for tone... the emphasized part of your quoted post is just a tad patronizing, don't you think? The door swings both ways.

I'm a Canadian immigrant, my parents came to Canada when I was 4 yrs old.

I'm also an IEN, I had married an American and did my LPN training in the USA. I had considered continuing on to RN but by doing extensive research I discovered that in 2011 it was better for me to come back to Canada as an LPN.

My daughter-in-law is American and now living here in Alberta. She completed the SEC and was told she'd have to do the bridge program. She didn't complain, she understood that her nursing education didn't meet the provincial nursing standards here in Alberta.

I work with mostly new immigrants to Canada. Some were nurses back home, in fact quite a few of them were trained nurses back home. None of them have complained about how difficult it is to become a nurse in Canada. Nor do any of them feel entitled to a nursing job here in Canada.

One of my co-workers left her family behind in the Philipines 4 years ago so she could start a new life here for her family. She left her husband and 3 children behind. This year the family will finally be reunited. She doesn't complain, she's excited to have a new start for her family.

Another co-worker was a nurse in India, she left behind her husband and children to start a new life here in Canada. She hasn't complained about the process to be a nurse here either.

I knew another IEN from India, she has a Master's Degree in nursing. She came over with her husband and left her child in India. She has extensive nursing experience but she is working as a home health care aid. She didn't complain either. She's well aware of the process to become an RN in Canada and will do it when she's ready.

So please don't assume that any of the Canadian posters on this board have anything against IENs.